Telegraph system



H. M. BIELE TELEGRAPH SYSTEM Aug. 10, 1937. 2,089,532

Filed Jan. 7, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Mil-3 I Aou+ INVENTOR HARRY M. BIE LE ATTORNEY Aug. 10, 1937.

H. M. BIELE 2,089,532 TELEGRAPH SYSTEM Filed Jan. 7, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 a Q Ll- I I ll g g {5 H g s 8 co i INVENTOR HARRY M. BIELE flan-n4 12; ATTORNEY Aug. 10, 1937. H, BlELE 2,089,532

TELEGRAPH SYSTEM Filed Jan. 7, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 7 Q I ay F I I 3'; lr' Q] FIG.3

INVENTOR HARRY M. BIELE B Y UZMWW' MZL/ ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 10, 1937 TELEGRAPH SYSTEM 7 Harry M. Biele, Hollis, N. Y., assignor to The Associated Press, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 7, 1936, Serial No. 57,935

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a telegraph system.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved circuit for regenerating distorted or attenuated signals in a printing telegraph system.

5 In long line printing telegraph systems, signals become distorted from various causes, and, in order to reduce the cumulative effect of such distortion, it is customary to have one or more regenerative repeaters in circuit which receive sigl nals lacking uniformity due to line conditions and retransmit them in the same condition as when they left the transmitter. Accordingly an object of this invention is the provision of a repeater for main line use having storing means 15 which will respond to impulses'of considerably shorter duration than full length signals sent out from the transmitter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a repeater of low cost, the greater part of which 20 may be constructed of standard parts.

Referring now to the drawings of which there are three sheets:

Figure 1 shows the details of a regenerative repeater in circuit with a diagrammatic repre- 25 sentation of a transmitter and a receiver of conventional design.

Figure 2 is an elevation, and Figure 3 is a plan view of a distributor according to the present invention.

30 The reference character T in Figure 1 represents a transmitting station having a grounded line battery 2!, a start stop distributor represented by 22 which is connected to a line 23 extending to a main line relay 24 located at a dis- 35 tant station.

Line 23 in the present embodiment is connected to one terminal of an operating winding 25 of relay 24, and the other terminal of the winding is connected to ground. Relay 24 is provided 40 with a winding 26 which has terminals connected to opposite poles of a source of potential. The

current in the biasing winding is normally constant and opposes that in the operating winding.

Suitable means are provided'for adjusting the value of current flowing in the biasing winding in order that tongue 21 of the relay will be moved quickly from contact 28 to the left or spacing contact 29 when current is cut off from the operating winding 25. The arrangement just -de- 50 scribed is for use in connection with make and break signals. When the present invention is used with polar signals, the coils of relay 24 may be used singly or connected in series or in parallel as desired.

55 Relay 24 cooperates with a pair, of distributors H) and H driven by a motor l2. The brush arms of the respective distributors are driven by friction clutches l3 and I4 and suitable gearing enclosed in gear box l5, Figures 2 and 3, from the motor shaft; distributor 10 being driven at a. somewhat greater speed than distributor according to the usual practice.

Distributor I0 is provided with two pairs of cooperating rings. Within approximately 180 degrees of the outermost ring five equally spaced segments are located, numbered from I to 5 respectively which are for distributing impulses of the well-known five unit code, in the present embodiment. The segments may be from upwards of one degree in angular length in a distributor oi" the usual size, and are separated from each other by blank segments of considerably greater length. The remainder of the outer ring is divided into two segments, 6 and l, the former being a blank segment and the latter a start segment. The secondring, I6, which cooperates with the outer ring consists of two segments 8 and 9, segment 8 being co-extensive, angularly, with segments I to 6, while 9 is of the same angular length as segment 1 of the outer ring. Segment 9 is connected to contact 29 of relay 24, while segment 8 is connected to contact 28 of this relay.

Segments l to 5 are connected to terminals of the operating windings of intermediate relays 3| to 35 respectively, while the opposite terminals 30 of these windings are connected by a common conductor to a source of negative potential. These relays are of the polar type. Bridged across each of the relay operating windings is a large condenser H5 to accelerate the operation;

- thereof.

in the opposite direction to that of the operating winding, and of just suflicient strength to return ng the relay tonguespromptly to the left or spacing contact of the relays when no current is flowing in the operating windings.

The tongues All to of relays 3| to 35 are each connected to one terminal of the operating coils 45 of the respective relays. The right hand or marking contact of these relays are each connected to one terminal of the operating windings of storing relays 5| to 55, the opposite terminals of the operating windings of these relays beingso connected through individual resistances to the spacing contact and tongue 46 of a restoring relay 36 to a source of positive potential.

Storing relays 5| to are provided with the biasing windings 6| to respectively, through.55

which a small current constantly flows tending to move the relay tongues H to 15 to the spacing contacts of the relays. The marking contacts of relays 5i to 55 are connected to segment 56 which is the stop segment in the outer ring of distributor II and also to ground. The tongues H to 15 of the storing relays are connected respectively to segments l to 5 of the first or outer ring of distributor II while the second ring which cooperates with the outer ring is connected through the back contacts 66 and tongues of a slow act.- ing relay 6'! to an outgoing line 68 provided with a line battery 69 and extending to a remote receiving station where it is connected through the winding 70 of a receiving device to ground. The receiving device may be a single magnet printer, or a relay which cooperates with a distributor and a five magnet printer, or other suitable receiving device.

Both distributors l and II are provided with a pair of inner rings, in the case of distributor I0 the inner ring I! is solid and cooperates by means of a brush with a single short segment 89 of an outer ring l8 which is connected to the start magnet -of the sending distributor H, the inner ring being. connected to a source of positive potential, and the segment 80 being connected to one side "of the transmitting distributor start magnets 8l while the other side of the start magnets are con- .nected to the opposite pole of the battery.

The inner ring 58 of distributor I l is connected to a source of positive potential while the third ring 59 of this distributor which cooperates. with the innermost ring has but a single segment 82 which is located angularly in the direction of rotation just beyond segment of the outer ring andis connected through the operating coil of relay 36 to negative battery, the relay winding being bridged by a suitable condenser in order to increase its operating speed. Relay 36 has a biasing winding 31 through which a continuous weak current flows which tends to restore the relay .tongue 46 to the spacing contact.

The receiving distributor I0 is provided with a brush arm 85 which is connected to a shaft of 'motor [2 by a suitable gear train and a friction clutch [3, which constantly urge the brush arm to vrotate,b1.it the brush arm is normally restrained from rotation by armature 86 of the receiving distributor start magnets 81, as the armature rests in the path of theend of the brush arm when snag-nets; 81 are deenergized. Brush arm 85 carries two pairs of brushes, brushes 88 and 89 being .connected together butinsulated from the brush arm and makecontact between the two outer rings, while brushes 90 and 9 I, also insulated from the brush arm, connect the twoinner rings of the distributor.

J 'A similar arrangement is employed in connection with distributor II, the brush arm 92 of which is driven from the shaft of motor I2 through a train of gears in gear box I 5 and a friction clutch I4, which in the present embodiment constantly urges the brush arm to rotate, but the brush arm is normally restrained by armature 93 of start magnet 8|." Arm 92 likewise carries two pairs of brushes, of which 94 and 95 connect the two outer rings of the distributor, while brushes 196 and 9'! connect the two inner rings.

The speed of motor [2 is kept constant by any suitable device, a governor 98 and a circuit for this purpose is indicated generally by the reference character 99.

The device operates as follows: When the :transmitter is at rest, according to well known winding 26.

practice, the brush or contact thereof sends battery to the line from the transmitter stop segment. In other words, the line is kept closed. The line circuit extends through the repeater line relay 24 operating windingto ground which holds tongue 21 in contact with contact 28 and the brushes of both distributors are at rest against the armatures of their respective start magnets.

When in operation, the transmitter brushes of transmitter 22 rotate at a somewhat slower speed than brush arm 92 of the repeater transmitting distributor H. When the transmitter 22 starts, the brush or contact member thereof will move from its position of rest on the stop section and then send out to the line a uniform start impulse, which in the present embodiment is an open line interval.

This will deenergize the winding 25 of relay 24 permitting the tongue 21 to move over to contact 29 under the influence of the biasing current in The tongue is connected to positive battery and establishes a. circuit through contact 29, segment 9, brushes 88 and 89, segment I through windings 81 of the start magnet, to the negative side of the battery thus energizing the start magnet, causing armature 86 to be retracted, releasing brush arm 85. The rings of the distributor Ii] may be oriented according to well known practice in respect to armature 96, and the rings are so positioned that the five, selecting impulses which follow immediately after the start impulse are received in succession. as brush 88 makes contact with corresponding segments l to 5 of distributor l0. Dueto' the higher speed of distributor I0, brush arm 85 is stopped momentarily once each revolution by armature 86, but

is released as previously described by the start I impulse which precedes each group of selecting impulses.

For the purposes of the present description the code characters will be considered as being made up of combinations of current and no current intervals which vary according to the character being transmitted. Current impulses transmitted at high speed, as previously stated, are subject to distortion of various kinds. In-order to utilize distorted signals, it is customary to use receiving segments which are shorter than the transmitting segments, the receiving segments being separated by blank spacing segments, so

that the receiving ring may be set so that approximately the middle, or least distorted section of the impulse, falls on the receiving segment. In the present invention a novel organization of circuits permits the use of receiving segments much smaller than heretofore possible and consequently accurate high speed operation is possible on lines which would be inoperative with other known repeaters.

During the transmission of no current impulses, tongue 21 of relay 24 rests on contact 29 and none of the local relays are operated. When an impulse of the opposite kind is transmitted, the line is closed by the transmitter and the operating winding 25 is energized and a local relay 3| to will be operated, depending on the particular segment I to 5 of distributor is that brush 88 may be in contact with.

In order to make clear the operation of the present invention, various circuits will be traced to show the operation of the relays when a character is transmitted.

For example, take the letter M. In the usual printer code, the letter M consists of two no current intervals, followed by three current in 40 pairs of local relays.

" the tongue of relay 24 remains on contact 29,

while brush 88 passes over segments l and 2 of distributor it. Before the brush reaches segment 3, the third impulse of the combination is received causing relay tongue 21 to move over to contact 28 which connects positive battery to segment 8 of the second distributor ring. When the brush passes over segment 3, it closes a circuit from segment 8 to segment 3, through the operating coil of relay'33 'to negative battery causing tongue '43 to make with its right hand a marking contact. The tongue which is connected to one side of the operating winding of this relay locks itself in this position, and at the same time causes the operation of storing relay 53 by means of a circuit extending'from the marking contact of relay 33 through the operating vinding of relay 53 to positive battery which is drawn through tongue 46 and spacing contact of the restore relay 3B.

The fourth and fifth impulses of fM are 55 for the fifth impulse of the character.

Immediately following the fifth impulse is a stop impulse which serves when a code combination ends with an open line impulse to move the armature of relay 24 back to contact 28, for

otherwise the start magnet 87 might be operated as soon as the brushes contacted segments l and 3 before the proper start impulse is received.

We have seen how the received impulses are distributed and stored by a series of cooperating The transmitting arrangement will now be described. Distributor H is provided with an outer ring divided into seven segments of equal length and a second ring bridged to the outer ring by brushes 94 and 95. The second ring is connected to the line through the'tongues and back contacts 66 of relay 61. .Five segments numbered from I to 5 are connected respectively to tongues "H to 15 of relays 5| to 55. The tongues of these relays tend to remain on open spacing contacts of these relays ,due to the biasing current constantly flowing through biasing windings 6| to 65. 1 The marking contacts of these relays are connected to ground. For polar operation, opposite'poles of a source of potential would be connected to the spacing and marking contacts ofthese relays. It will be understood, therefore, that in the case of make and break signals that the line connected to the inner ring will be opened or closed depending on the position of the storing relay tongues as the brush arm rotates, and likewise the polarity of the line vbattery would be reversed if the present invention were used for transmitting polar signals.

When brush 54 contacts segment 56 which is permanently connected to ground, in the case of which is open, causes the brush to transmit the open line or no current start impulse which pre cedes each character. Immediately after the brush arm 85 of the receiving distributor starts to rotate,lthe sending startmagnet is energizedjby a current flowing from the innermost ring of the receiving distributor, through segment 80, through sending start magnets 8|, releasing the sending brush arm 92. The transmitting brushes 92 and 93 then pass over segment 51, opening the line for 'the start signal, and thereafter the line is opened or closed according to the setting of the tongues of relays 5| to 55, and then when segment 56 is contacted, the brush arm comes to rest against the start magnet armature 93 closing the line.

Just before brush arm 92 comes to rest, brushes 96 and 9'! carried thereby close a circuit from the innermost ring of the distributor to which there is permanently connected a positive source of potential, through segment 82, through the operating winding of relay 36 which overcomes the bias current of winding 3'! of this re- -lay and causes tongue 46 to move away from its left or spacing contact thus removing the looking current from all relays.

It will be understood from the foregoing that signals subject to more or less distortion are re ceived from line 23, and a. small part of each of the received signals is used to operate storing relays and that full length regenerated signals are repeated from distributor ll into line 68.

Should line 23 go open for any reason that might cause the wire to fail, there is danger that the transmitting station might be sending to the wind for a long period of time resulting in delay or loss of telegraphic items. If the circuits are traced from relay 24 to line 68 when line 23 is open, it will be found that relay tongue 2'! remains on contact 29 which will permit release brush arm to revolve continuously and the tongues of relays 3| to 35 as well as relays 5| to 55 would be on their left hand contacts, consequently distributor I I would send out a'uniform Blank signal, consisting of a stop and start signal followed by five open line impulses, and there would be no means for the attendant at the receiving device 10 to know that the line had failed on the other side of the repeater. In order to prevent an occurrence of this kind a novel arrangement has been provided in the present invention which will pass or repeat the open line condition around a repeater so that the attendant at the receiving station will know of this condition.

A slow acting relay 6'! having a winding connected through a suitable delay network, which preferably consists of choke coil 41 and resist ance 48 to contact 29 of the receiving relay, and the other side of the winding connected to neg ative potential is used to open the transmitting line when the receiving line has failed.

The circuit just described operates as follows: During normal operation of the system impulses are received by the winding of relay 6'! with each operation of relay 24, but the tongue of relay 6'! remains on its back contact because of the slow action of the relay. If, however, line 23 goes open, then relay 24 would have its tongue 21 positioned on contact 29 for a considerable period which would cause relay 6'! to operate and break the circuit of the outgoing line 68 and distributor II and this condition would be quickly evident to the attendant at the receiving device Hi.

What is claimed is:

1. In a telegraph system, a repeater for regenerating impulses, an input line and an output line therefor, a receiving relay in said input line responsive to incoming impulses, means for passing an indication of a failure in the incoming line around said repeater to said outgoing line comprising. a second relay having its windings energized from a contact of said receiving relay, a tongue and contact for saidsecond relay connected in series in the output line, and a delay circuit for preventing the operation of said second relay during the normal operation of said receiving relay. Y Y

2. In a telegraph system, a repeater for regenerating signals, an input line and an output line therefor, a receiving relay in said input line responsive to incoming impulses, means for passing an indication of a failure in the incoming line around sad repeater to said outgoing line comprising a slow acting relay normally inactive while said receiving relay is active, but responsive when said incoming line is open for an abnormal period, a pair of tongues and back contacts for saidslow acting relay in series with said outgoing line, whereby said outgoing line is opened on the operation of said slow acting relay.

3. In a telegraph system, means for regenerating signals comprising a receiving relay, a start stop distributor controlled thereby, a group of intermediate relays, one for each impulseof a code character, circuits extending from said receiving relay throughsaid distributor whereby said relays may be operated individually according to the code character received, a group of storing relays, a circuit extending from a contact of each intermediate relay through the winding of a corresponding storing relay by which the storing relays may be held in operated condition, means for retransmitting said impulses comprising circuits extending from the tongues of the storing relays to segments of a sending distributor, and means controlled by the sending distributor for permitting the return of all of said relays to an unoperated position immediately after the transmission of each group of impulses.

4. In a telegraph system, means for regenerating distorted impulses, comprising a receiving relay, a start stop distributor controlled thereby, a group of intermediate relays, one for each impulse of a code character, a condenser connected across the operating winding of each of said intermediate relays, circuits extending from said receiving relay through said distributor whereby said relays may be operated individual- 'ly according to the code character received, a

group of storing relays less sensitive than the intermediate relays, a circuit extending from a contact and one terminal of the operating winding of each intermediate relay through the winding of a corresponding storing relay from a source of potential by means of which the storing relay is operated by the intermediate relay and both relays retained in operated position, and means controlled by the sending distributor for disabling the locking circuit.

5. In a telegraph system, means for regenerating distorted impulses, comprising a receiving relay, a start stop distributor controlled thereby, a group of intermediate relays, one for each impulse of a code character, a condenser connected across the operating winding of each of said intermediate relays, circuits extending from said receiving relay through said distributor whereby said relays may be operated individually according to the code character received, a group of storing relays less sensitive than the intermediate relays, a circuit extending from a contact and one terminal .of the operating winding of each intermediate relay through the Winding of a corresponding storing relay by which the storing relays may be held in operated condition after the operation of corresponding intermediate relays, a circuit extending from the tongue of each storing relay to a segment of a sending distributor, and means comprising a circuit leading from a segment of the sending distributor and a relay controlled thereby whereby said relay is operated immediately after the transmission of each group of impulses to remove the locking battery from the locking circuits of the intermediate and storing relays.

6. In a telegraph system, means for regenerating distorted impulses comprising a receiving relay, a start stop distributor controlled thereby, a group of intermediate relays, one for each impulse of a code character, a condenser connected across the operating windings of each of said relays, circuits extending from said receiving relay through said distributor whereby said relays may be operated individually according to the code character received, a group of storing relays, a circuit extending from a contact and one terminal of the operating winding of each intermediate relay through the winding of a corresponding storing relay by which the storing relays may be held in operated condition after the operation of corresponding intermediate relays, a circuit extending from the tongue of each storing relay to a segment of a sending distributor, and means controlled by the sending distributor for releasing all relays immediately after the transmission of each group of impulses.

7. In a telegraph system, means for regenerating distorted impulses comprising a receiving relay, a distributor controlled thereby having relatively short segments in comparison to received impulses, a group of highly sensitive intermediate relays, a condenser connected around the operating windings of said intermediate relays whereby said relays are operable by but a small portion of the received impulses, a group of storing relays, a circuit extending from a contact of each intermediate relay through the winding of a corresponding storing relay by which the storing relays may be held in operated condition, a sending distributor having segments for sending full length impulses, circuits extending from the tongue of each storing relay to a segment of the sending distributor, and means controlled by the sending distributor for releasing all of said relays on the completion of a transmitting cycle.

8. In a telegraph system, means for regenerating distorted impulses comprising a receiving relay, a distributor controlled thereby having relatively short segments compared to the received impulses, a group of highly sensitive intermediate relays operable by only a small portion of the received impulses from said segments, a' group of storing relays, a circuit extending from a contact of each intermediate relay through the winding of a corresponding storing relay by which the storing relays may be held in operated condition, means for retransmitting full length impulses corresponding to the setting of said storing relays comprising a circuit extending from the tongue of each storing relay to a segment of a sending distributor, and means controlled by the sending distributor for permitting the return of all of said relays to an unoperated position immediately after the transmission of each group of impulses.

9. In a telegraph system, means for regenerating distorted impulses comprising a receiv-' ing relay, a distributor controlled thereby having relatively short segments in comparison to the length of received impulses, a group of highly sensitive intermediate relays, a condenser connected around the operating windings of each of said intermediate relays whereby said relays are operable by but a small portion of the received impulses, a group of storing relays, a circuit extending from a contact of each intermediate relay through the winding of a corresponding storing relay by which both the storing relay and the corresponding intermediate relay are retained in operated condition after an initial operation of the intermediate relay, a sending distributor having segments for sending full length impulses, circuits extending from the tongue of each storing relay to a segment of the sending distributor whereby impulses corresponding to the setting of the relays are transmitted to the line, and means controlled by the sending distributor for releasing all of said relays on the completion of a transmitting cycle.

HARRY M. BIELE. 

